Fresh off criticising Chinese president Xi Jinping over Tibet , Boston Celtics player Enes Kanter has slammed the leader over the treatment of Uygurs. Kanter posted on his social media accounts ahead of his team’s game with the Toronto Raptors on Friday night (US time), calling out Xi by name. He also wore shoes with “Free Uyghur” and other messages onto the court. “Heartless Dictator of China, XI JINPING and the Communist Party of China,” he wrote. “I am calling you out in front of the whole world. Close down the SLAVE labour camps and free the UYGHUR people! Stop the GENOCIDE, now!” According to human rights groups and a United Nations committee, as many as 1 million Uygur Muslims – the region’s largest ethnic group – have been detained in “re-education centres” there and subjected to indoctrination, torture and forced labour. Heartless Dictator of China, XI JINPING and the Communist Party of China. I am calling you out in front of the whole world. Close down the SLAVE labor camps and free the UYGHUR people! Stop the GENOCIDE, now! #FreeUyghurs pic.twitter.com/eEoiw5Uz2K — Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 22, 2021 China denies the accusations, along with those of “genocide”. Celtics games had been removed from Chinese streaming site Tencent after Kanter’s comments on Tibet ahead of their season opener against the New York Knicks on Wednesday. Kanter also wore shoes with “Free Tibet” on them for the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. Both pairs of shoes were created by Shanghai-born, Australia-based dissident cartoonist Badiucao, who had a show in Hong Kong cancelled in 2018. The NBA veteran, who was born in Switzerland but raised in Turkey, has long been a vocal critic of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kanter, 29, claims he can no longer return to Turkey. These represent the latest troubles for the NBA in China, which date back to a tweet supporting Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters made by then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in October 2019. To those of you who care about human dignity: Please join me in spreading the word. What is happening to the Uyghurs is one of the WORST human rights abuses in the world today. We can NOT stay silent! #FreedomShoes #FreeUyghurs pic.twitter.com/8Bjr4FiWR9 — Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) October 22, 2021 Chinese state broadcaster CCTV is not showing any games to start the 2021-22 season. Tencent does not show Philadelphia 76ers games, where Morey is now the president of basketball operations after he was named to the role in November of 2020, just as the platform did not show Rockets games when Morey was GM. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV pulled NBA broadcasts at the time.